Three Perfect Little Girls
by delly7
Summary: Professor Utonium thought he had made the right decision by adopting the triplets, Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup, from Pokey Oaks Orphanage. Though taking care of 3 little girls is certainly a handful, the professor soon finds himself in over his head, after the girls get into an accident with the mysterious Chemical X...
1. Pokey Oaks Orphanage

**Sorry about all the mess. I reuploaded this chapter to fix the formatting. I'm very new to and I still don't know all the ropes yet. Anyway. This is the first Powerpuff Girls story I've ever written. It's an alternate universe (au) story, as I enjoy writing aus a lot. There are a few distinct differences in this story than in the PPG canon. In this story, the girls are normal, super power-less girls. Also, I thought it would be cute if Buttercup had a pet lizard. Because let's admit it, she totally would.**

 **And without further ado, let the story begin. Happy reading, everybody. :) -Delly  
** -  
Tiny fingers wrapped around a plastic Tupperware lid, and the black-haired child grinned, showing a distinctive missing tooth, as the lid popped easily off. Unceremoniously, she dug her dirt-crusted fingernails into the soft oats, and pulled out a handful of wriggling, squirming worms.

"Ew, gross!" exclaimed the blonde child from across the room. "How can you touch those things with your bare hands?" She quickly turned away from the sight, trembling slightly. "So…nasty…"

"Heh," the impish girl replied, setting the cup down on the table. "If you think that's bad, imagine eating them for dinner!" She let out a devilish chuckle as she tossed the tiny worms into a nearby glass tank, where a yellow lizard with black spots was seen lurking.

Catching the sight of the tasty snack, the animal lunged forward and grabbed several of the worms into its mouth, and with a few satisfying crunches, the treats were devoured.

"See?" the black-haired girl continued, turning toward the scared girl, now cowering in the corner. "Spot seems to like them."

"Stop tormenting your sister, Buttercup," a third girl spoke, not looking up from the book she was reading as she sat on one of the many beds that lined the walls of the room. "Just because you and Spot like to eat mealworms, doesn't mean Bubbles does."

"Yeah!" the blonde shouted, finally turning to face Buttercup. "Blossom's right, you know."

"Peh," Buttercup muttered as she ran her fingers through her messy hair and turned back to her beloved leopard gecko. Placing a single finger on the glass, she rested her head on the table and whispered to the animal, "I thought you said you weren't gonna tell my sisters that I eat mealworms sometimes…"  
-

This was one of the rare occasions that Professor Utonium didn't wear his lab coat. He knew the situation wouldn't warrant it. He would not be working in the lab today. It was possible that he wouldn't be working in the lab for a while. After so many failed attempts at creating the perfect little girl, the Professor decided that perhaps it just wasn't in the cards to create artificial life. Those days were over. It was time to look toward the future.

Clutching the appropriate paperwork in his hands, he glanced over the material written on the sheets. _Adoption Application._ He looked in the mirror, spotting the graying hair on his temples and the slight purple pigmentation underneath his eyes. He blinked, fastened his tie, and then descended the staircase of his large, but very empty 3-bedroom house.

As he drove, he clutched the steering wheel tightly in his fists as thoughts raced violently in his mind. What if his application wasn't accepted? Impossible. The Professor had no criminal background, and was a very esteemed and well-liked individual in the Townsville community. There was no way that the adoption agency wouldn't accept his application. But another thought crossed his mind, one that made his heart sink.

 _What if I can't find the perfect little girl?_

He sighed. He loosened his grip on the steering wheel as he pulled into the driveway of Pokey Oaks Orphanage. It was time.  
-

"You know it's adoption day today, right?" Blossom spoke to her sisters as she ran her brush through her long, orange hair.

"Do you think today will be the day?" Bubbles asked her sister as she sat behind her, clicking one of Blossom's hair clips into the long, silky locks.

"Of course not," Buttercup blurted out. She lay on her back on one of the beds with her pet lizard sitting on her chest. "How many times do I have to tell you?" she murmured, stroking the lizard's head tenderly. "Nobody wants to adopt triplets, and we refuse to separate. We're never gonna get adopted. It's just never gonna happen. Ever!" She sat up and swung her feet off the bed. Jumping down, she went to her desk to return her pet to its habitat.

"Don't have to be so negative…" Blossom muttered as she fitted a red bow on the top of her head.  
-

The Professor's background check was conducted and his paperwork filed. He was deemed a fit parent by the orphanage, which had come as no surprise to the Professor. But there was still one monumental task that awaited him…

There were several children needing good homes at the Pokey Oaks Orphanage. The only thing left to do now is to choose the right child to raise as his own. The Orphanage aide opened the door to the playroom, designated for girl children only, where several kids could be seen playing.

The Professor hardly noticed the three girls sitting in the back of the room with all the ruckus going on in front of him from the other children. Glancing back, he noticed that they had worn matching dresses – green, pink, and blue. _Triplets?_ he thought. Almost immediately, he had dismissed them in his mind. He couldn't possibly adopt 3 little girls at once. He had no parenting experience whatsoever, how could he possibly take care of three girls?

The professor quickly learned that he was not the only prospective parent there. Looking around, he seemed to notice a pattern. Many couples. He noticed that a lot of the children began to instantly warm up to the people that may be their future parents. _Was this perhaps out of desperation?_ He thought. Shaking those invasive thoughts from his mind, his attention was suddenly turned to some commotion in the back of the room, from the triplets.

"That thing is disgusting!" A woman looking to adopt a child was nearly shouting when she caught sight of Buttercup's lizard, sitting quietly and calmly in the child's small arms. The child looked up at her, her face contorting into a grimace.

"Yeah? Well, yer face is disgusting!" The black-haired child retorted, then shot back a toothy smirk up at the woman. Blossom tried to stifle a small giggle, even though she knew that her sister was being rude...

"Ugh, what a brat…" The woman muttered, turning her back to the three girls and walking toward an area where some of the other children were playing.

"How unfortunate, she'll never have a chance of being adopted," the Professor heard the woman mutter under her breath as she passed by him, her husband in tow. "So _ugly,_ too," she spoke in a normal tone just before the door slammed shut behind her.

The Professor glanced back at the black-haired girl, his mouth slightly agape. Buttercup was biting her lip and crossing her arms, as if she had heard what the woman had said about her. "Hmph, I don't care what no dumb lady thinks of me." She hugged her lizard closer to her chest as she spoke.

Buttercup felt the characteristic tug of her sister, Bubbles, at her side, as she whispered, "someone's coming this way," to her two sisters.

The three girls looked up at the tall, dark-haired figure.

"H-Hi…" they all spoke quietly in unison.


	2. The Weakest Link

**Here's chapter 2. I couldn't think of a good name for the Professor, and it seems like "John" is pretty popular among the fanfic writers here, so I just went with that. Hope you don't mind. And if you haven't already guessed, this is going to be a Buttercup-centric story. I like Buttercup the most, and I think there's a lot of potential to write some really angsty stuff with her. Of course, the other girls are still going to be around, though, so don't fret. Alright. Enjoy. :) -Delly  
-**

Professor Utonium leaned down, resting his elbows on his knees, so that he could look at the three girls at eye-level.

"What are your names?" He asked the three of them. The moment that the words left his mouth, he felt a sinking feeling in his chest. He didn't want them to connect with him. Could they face the disappointment when he would inevitably tell them that he can't adopt them?

He didn't have long to think on this, as the blue-clad girl jumped up and down excitedly, proclaiming loudly that her name was "Bubbles."

The redhead stepped forward slightly and answered the Professor, "I'm Blossom," which she then followed with a small smile.

The black-haired girl was preoccupied with the small lizard in her hands, and she hardly even heard what the Professor had said. After a small nudge from Blossom, she muttered quietly, "I'm… B-Buttercup." She had not even looked up to see the Professor as she spoke.

The Professor looked bewildered, to say the least. "Are those… your real names?" He thought aloud. Oh, he had not meant to say that. Woops.

Blossom nodded. They had clearly heard that a lot. "Yes, they are," she answered him.

"Yeah!" Bubbles joined in. "I kinda like our names. I think it makes us special. And besides, at least our mom didn't give us dumb names like Apple or Moon Unit or Ma-"

"We get it, Bubbles," Buttercup interjected into her sister's ramblings.

The Professor smiled at them. They were pretty adorable… "Well, my name is Professor Utonium."

"Your first name is Professor?" Bubbles looked shocked at this. "And you thought our names were strange?"

He laughed at this silly conjecture. "Well, no, my first name is John," he answered, looking the blonde intently in her big, blue eyes. "But everyone usually just calls me the Professor. You're welcome to call me that, too, if you'd like."

Bubbles interlaced her fingers together and giggled. "Okie dokie, Professor."

At hearing this, the black-haired girl scoffed. They had spent most of their lives there at Pokey Oaks Orphanage. In fact, the trio didn't even remember their parents. The only knowledge that the three girls ever knew of their mother was what attendants at the Orphanage had told them; and admittedly, it wasn't much. Blossom had been born exactly three minutes before Buttercup, with Bubbles being last, essentially making her the "youngest" of the three. The hospital staff had found it strange that the triplets had three different hair and eye colors, but one of the personnel that had been assigned to perform genetic testing on children had confirmed that it was unlikely, but not impossible. The girls had spent many sleepless nights, underneath the covers of one bed, musing about what kind of person would just leave them in a stinky old orphanage and forget about them forever. They had been there for so long that Buttercup, only 7 years old and already hardened to most of the world's cruelty, had given up hope that anyone would ever want to take them home. Take them away from this place. _Love them._

There wasn't a long moment of silence before Buttercup finally spoke up. "If ya don't mind, Professor, we'd like to know ahead a time if yer thinking of adopting us or not. We're used to the rejection. We don't like people getting our hopes up for nothing." As she spoke, her lizard began to crawl effortlessly to her shoulder, allowing the green-clad girl to cross her arms effectively. "I'm just sayin' it 'cause my sisters are too scared to."

The Professor was nearly taken aback by the girl's abruptness. He took a moment to collect his thoughts and choose his words carefully; he didn't want to hurt the already clearly upset child in front of him. "Well, B-…Buh…"

"Buttercup."

"Yes, Buttercup," The Professor felt a small bead of sweat form on the back of his neck. "The truth is, things like this are a big decision. You can't just go into these things all willy nilly."

"Yeah, Buttercup, calm down," Blossom muttered to her sister, giving her a pained look. She knew that Buttercup was their weakest link. It was _her_ that was the reason they never got adopted. Whenever they would get close, _she_ would always ruin it for her and Bubbles. They were the sweet ones, and she was the rude and brash one. Countless times had the trio heard variations of "she's not adoptable" to the Orphanage aides in response to Buttercup. Every comment made at her expense was always answered with a _Yes, we'll work with her,_ or a _Yes, she's seeing a child psychologist._ _She won't be like this forever, she's just going through a stage._ Blossom had sometimes hoped that someone, _anyone_ , would just adopt her so that she could be out of their hair. But she knew that she was only thinking that out of anger and frustration. She loved her sisters, and knew that they needed to stay together. They were already painfully aware of their terrible situation, and being adopted together makes the entire journey just a little bit more bearable.

"We know, Professor," Bubbles spoke out quietly, grabbing Blossom's hand and interlacing her fingers with hers. She was careful not to apologize to the Professor for Buttercup's behavior. She tried to convey it in her facial expression, to which she believed the Professor understood.

The Professor felt a twinge in his heart. A feeling he had so rarely ever felt. It was the feeling of extreme pity. These girls were clearly very, very broken. And it is true that Orphanages are not usually happy places. He had expected to see broken children here. But none he had seen before them could have evoked such a powerful emotional response in this man of science. He sighed quietly.

"Girls," he spoke after a long silence, and then stood up. "I am going to excuse myself for a moment, but I promise I will be back."

Bubbles looked up at him, tears beginning to well in her big, blue eyes. She clung to her sister, Blossom, who returned her need for comfort with a small, reassuring squeeze of her hand. The two nodded silently as they watched him turn and leave. Buttercup said nothing, only watched him. Rather, she stared at him, her gaze never faltering even after he had finally left the room. The girls were no stranger to this occurance. The usual _Oh, I'm just going outside to grab my wallet, I'll be right back._ That excuse got old after a while. And here it was again.

"He's not coming back," Buttercup nearly spat out, her searing vision so intently fixed on the door that, if it were possible, she would have used some sort of heat ray to blast the wooden barrier clean off its hinges in a fit of rage. Blossom simply shook her head and turned to console Bubbles, who had begun to sob uncontrollably.


	3. An Offer You Can't Refuse

**Short chapter, I know. But I thought this would be a great place for a cliffhanger. :) Don't you just love those? Happy reading! -Delly  
-**

Blossom patted her blonde sister on the back as she cried into her shoulder. "W-we…were…so close…" her soft, cracking voice spoke between heavy sobs.

"I know, it's okay, Bubbles…" the redhead spoke in quiet whispers back to her. Oh, how she wanted to scold Buttercup. She had ruined yet another chance for them. Their heartbreak was made even worse by the sneers they heard of other children, who had looked back at them. They mockingly waved goodbye to the trio with their free hand, the other clutching the hand of their new mother or father, as they exited the room. They were getting to leave. They got to go _home._

It was getting near the end of the day, and the room was mostly empty. This is how it usually was. There were still a few children, scattered here and there. But the girls knew those kids wouldn't be stuck in this place for long. That's why they never made friends outside of themselves. It was too painful, getting attached to a child that they knew would be leaving soon.

The girls had returned to their "business as usual" places. _Better luck next month,_ they could hear the Orphanage aide speaking through her solemn expression as she watched the girls hang their heads in silence and move onto whatever mindless activity the girls usually did to pass the time. Unbeknownst to them, however, the Professor was still present at the Orphanage...  
-

Back, back in the very back of the building was the office of the head of the Orphanage. The Professor was seated in front of his desk. The room was not well-lit. In fact, it looked like a scene out of the Godfather, which made the Professor more than a little nervous. But it seemed that the Orphanage head, who insisted that the Professor call him _Sammy,_ was quite a cordial man. He spoke to the Professor about the girls' predicament in a soft-spoken, but authoritative voice.

"S-seven years?" The Professor exclaimed out of heavy shock. "They've been here for seven years?"

Sammy nodded. "Yup, the mother was deemed unfit to raise children and left them here shortly after they were born. They know almost nothing of the world outside. It's very sad."

The Professor looked down at his laced fingers. He was at a loss for words. He wanted to help them. But… there were three of them. He had come to the Orphanage expecting to find the _Perfect Little Girl._ Not three of them. Just one. Singular.

Sammy continued to speak through the Professor's silence, "that black haired one, Buttercup, we've always had problems with her. Everyone is scared of her, even the adults."

The Professor looked up at him when he said this. Scared of a child? That's absurd. "I understand that she's rather… ill-mannered. But she can't possibly be that bad?" The Professor wondered if Buttercup's temper was simply due to her situation. Was it a front that the poor child had put up as a defense mechanism?

"Oh, she's _that_ bad," Sammy replied to him, leaning forward on his desk and placing his elbows down on the hard oak. "You should have seen her when she learned about the tooth fairy. Not long after, she was trying to knock every kid in sight's teeth out!" He sighed, taking his glasses off to rub his forehead indignantly. "Mr. Utonium, she is _impossible._ We have many children here that are _perfect_ for first time parents. She is not one of them."

The Professor averted his gaze. He was at an impasse. He needed to make a decision today. _Right now._ He took in a sharp breath of air and looked back down at the desk as he heard the sound of the man behind the desk sliding two separate adoption papers toward him. Only two.

Sammy thought for a moment before putting his glasses back on, looking at the Professor intently in the eye, and he spoke once more. "Blossom and Bubbles, however…"


	4. Three's a Company

**Another update. Thanks for all the nice reviews everyone! Not much to say on this chapter, pretty cut and dry. Happy Reading. :) -Delly  
** -

The Professor was already long gone from the girl's minds as they sat on the floor in a circle, playing with some Legos. Bubbles had attempted to create a bunny with the blocks, but the nature of the square bricks instead made her creation into a strange, geometric blob. Blossom was creating a city with many skyscrapers – presumably Townsville. This was one of the times when she would allow Buttercup to destroy her creation, she was playing a _monster_ , after all. And what monster doesn't destroy cities? The redhead giggled as she watched Buttercup pretend to "eat" one of the buildings. They barely noticed the door to their playroom open.

 _Bubbles Utonium._

The Professor cleared his throat slightly, which instantly got the three girls' attention. Bubbles displayed a wide smile as she got up and ran to the Professor, hugging his legs.

"You didn't forget about us!" She cried out in excitement.

The Professor looked down at the child. He made special care to make sure he kept the papers that he was holding hidden from their view. He didn't want to spoil the surprise, that's for sure. "I told you that I would be back," he replied to the blonde as she continued to hug him.

 _Blossom Utonium._

Blossom soon made her way over to the Professor, subsequently hugging his other leg. The scientist let out a slight chuckle at the ankle weights that had now latched themselves to his legs. He wanted to be amazed at how quickly the two girls had grown attached to him, but he also had to realize that the three girls were probably desperate to get out of the Orphanage. To get on with their lives. He didn't mind this.

With some slight effort, the Professor nudged the girls free and leaned down to their level. He made a quick glance toward Buttercup in the back, who had responded to his eye contact by quickly darting her gaze toward the Legos that they had been playing with. She was pretending that the scene in front of her wasn't frustrating to her. He brought his attention back to the two girls in front of him.

"Girls," he spoke softly to them, placing each of his hands gently on the two girl's shoulders. "I want to take you home with me. I want you to be my daughters."

Blossom and Bubbles could barely handle their excitement. Bubbles let out a tiny squeal and covered her mouth. Blossom clasped her hands together and her eyes widened, her mouth slightly agape.

Buttercup's heart skipped a beat. The Lego she held in her hand fell to the ground suddenly. She was paralyzed by what she was hearing. Her mouth quivered and she let out a tiny whimper, but her sisters didn't hear her. She couldn't believe this. He was taking them, _without her._ She turned her head, wanting more than anything right now to be invisible so that they wouldn't be able to see the tears welling up in her big, green eyes.

"Would you like that?" The Professor continued, though he was sure he already knew the answer.

The two girls let out an excited squeal of joy and wrapped their tiny arms around his neck, hugging their heads to his chest. "Yes, please!" Blossom cried out.

Bubbles said nothing, she simply nodded as she felt the involuntary tears of joy leak from her eyes, causing small droplets to collect on the Professor's shirt. The two girls clutched their new father's chest as they felt him pick them up into his arms effortlessly. He was now standing, the redhead and blonde sitting in his protective arms. Despite their happy demeanor, something was clearly wrong.

"W-wait…" Bubbles muttered quietly into the Professor's chest. She turned to face Buttercup, her other sister. Blossom soon followed suit, glancing back at the forgotten raven-haired girl. Buttercup was turned away from them, wiping a stray tear from her eyes as she rubbed the glass of her lizard's terrarium protectively, trying to find the courage to stay strong. _Stay strong._

"What about Buttercup, Professor?" Blossom whispered to the scientist. She noticed her sister wince, which alerted the redhead to the fact that she had heard her, despite her best efforts.

"Just forget about me!" The dejected Buttercup spoke out angrily, not even turning to face the happy family. "I'll be fine by myself." She crossed her arms and let out a small _hmph._ She didn't need them. She had her own family. She had Spot. That's all she needed. No, she knew she was lying to herself. She couldn't stop the quivering of her lower lip and the tears that began to pool in her eyes. _No. Stop crying. Don't let them see you._

Despite the situation, however, the Professor still smiled. The green-clad child heard the soft footsteps of the large figure behind him.

"Buttercup," he murmured to her, careful not scare her. He nudged a single piece of paper to the child, who quickly snatched the document from his hands and turned away to face him once more. She didn't have to study the document very carefully to notice what had clearly been written on the top.

 _Buttercup Utonium._


	5. The Appointment

**Another update. Sorry this one took a little longer. I'm very busy on the weekends due to work. I tried to take the time to write this chapter instead of just rushing to put something out. Updates will be a little sporadic, since I am a full time college student, but I promise to keep this updated. :) Thank you to everyone who has reviewed this. You all are wonderful and I read every single review. Happy reading! -Delly  
** -

The car rolled to the stop in front of set of office buildings. A sign bolted next to the door read _Suite B. Psychological Consultants of Townsville. Doctor Hall, PHD._

Professor Utonium unbuckled his seat belt and exited the vehicle, with its other occupants in the passenger's side of the car remaining almost perfectly still. It wasn't until the Professor had rounded the front of the car and was at her side did she even acknowledge his presence. She finally looked toward him when he opened the door to the passenger's side of the vehicle, and she proceeded to exit.

The Professor nudged a small piece of paper, a check of an unknown amount, to the black-haired child. "Buttercup, give this to Dr. Hall at the end of the session." He then leaned down to her eye level. "Oh, and Buttercup," he spoke softly as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Please, just try and be honest with Dr. Hall. It's her job to listen to you. Okay?"

Buttercup simply nodded, her expression almost catatonic in a way that made the Professor nervous. He watched her enter the building. He sighed once she had been out of earshot. When he had picked up the girls from the Orphanage about a week ago, the personnel there had advised him that he allow Buttercup to continue seeing a therapist, as she had done almost weekly before being adopted. If anything, they had told him, it would help her with the sometimes difficult transition that goes along with adoption. Blossom and Bubbles had no problems adjusting to their new surroundings, their new _life._ But Buttercup was _different,_ and the orphanage personnel made sure that the Professor was well-informed in that aspect.

Soon realizing that he was standing outside the car, he decided to make his way into the building, where a small waiting room was nestled in the front of the building. He would wait for Buttercup to finish her therapy session, about an hour later.

As the Professor waited, he continued to muse over the three girls. He had only been the girls' legal guardian for about a week, and so it would take some time, still, to learn about each of their unique personalities. Still, he was learning something new about his three adopted daughters every day. He remembered back to the day that he had first brought the three home. He showed them to their room, admitting that, since he was expecting to adopt only a single child, he had only purchased one single bed for the room. He had expected the girls to be upset, but Blossom insisted that they had no issues sleeping in the same bed together. In fact, Bubbles seemed to have preferred it.

Ah yes, the Professor would soon learn about Bubble's night terrors. 5 out of the last 7 nights, he would be working late at night to hear the frightened whimpers and terrified screams of one of the children. Each and every time, without fail, he would burst into the room, scared to death that something was wrong with one of the girls. But each and every time, he was met with a petrified Bubbles, who would tearfully explain that she had a nightmare. Buttercup was a very heavy sleeper, seemingly, and so these late night adventures hardly fazed her. But Blossom, who had taken to sleeping in the middle of the bed, would often be awake when Bubbles was. The Professor would remember her tired eyes, barely capable of being open as she lay back on her pillow, Bubbles squeezing her hand so hard that there was no way the redhead could possibly sleep. The oldest of the sisters had the patience of a saint, however, as the Professor noted that she had never scolded her blonde sister for waking her. She would simply allow her sister to rest her head on her shoulder, trying to go back to sleep.

"We're here, and Buttercup will beat up anyone who tries to mess with you. I promise," Blossom had whispered to her still visibly shaken sister. The Professor would bring the door of the bedroom to a close, being careful to allow the hall light to shine on Bubbles.

The Professor furrowed his brow when he had thought of Buttercup. He knew that a week was a short time. But it was frightening how little he knew about her, still. He knew that she liked lizards, as evident by her beloved pet Spot. He remembered how they had been about to leave the Orphanage, but Buttercup protested loudly. She nearly stomped up to the Professor, demanding that they take Spot with them.

"If we don't bring Spot, than you can leave without me," she muttered, crossing her arms as if it was her characteristic pose. Blossom rolled her eyes when she heard this. She just couldn't understand why her sister would care so much about a _dumb old lizard._ The Professor happily obliged, but wasn't thrilled to learn that he would be keeping live worms in his refrigerator for the little creature to eat… but what parent doesn't make some sacrifices for his kids every now and again?

He knew that she played with her sisters. He could hear them chattering away at each other. Sometimes he would hear arguing between Blossom and Buttercup, but he never felt like the bickering was bad enough to intervene. From what he had heard in small bouts when he had passed by their door when doing housework, they seemed like small, petty arguments.

Professor Utonium did not want to buy many things for his adopted daughter ahead of time, because he did not know what kind of things she would like. The day after officially adopting the girls and bringing them home, he had taken them to Ikea. Besides being exposed to the deliciousness that were Swedish meatballs, the girls had spent nearly 4 hours in the store, picking out various decorations and toys that would soon litter their entire room. Blossom and Bubbles had zipped around the store, almost as if they could fly, looking at nearly everything they could get their tiny fingers to grab hold of. They would run up to the Professor, holding the various items in front of their faces.

"What about this, Professor?" they would squeal out in excitement. Unable to say no to the adorable blonde and redhead, he would almost certainly say yes to nearly every item the girls had requested for their room, no matter how silly.

This was one of the ways in which the Professor had learned what the girls were interested in. Blossom, seemingly, loved to read. She had picked out many books that were far beyond the average 7-year old's reading level. He remembered how she had picked up _The Lord of the Rings,_ a book so large that she could barely even lift it.

"I want to read this one!" Blossom had spoken out triumphantly. The Professor thought it was interesting that she did not request that he read it to her. No, she wanted to read it herself. He had been genuinely perplexed at this.

"Are you sure you're ready for this book? It's very long, and you might have a hard time understanding most of the words," despite his confusion, he still had taken the book from the struggling child, studying the book carefully.

"I can handle it," Blossom replied, putting her hands on her hips. "I read _100 Years of Solitude_ by Gabriel Garcia Marquez last month. I think I can handle some Tolkien, now." At this, the Professor knew that Blossom was a prodigy. He said nothing, simply smiled and put the book down into the cart.

Bubbles, while not unintelligent by any means, had much different interests than her bookworm sister. Her eyes nearly glazed over and a small glob of spit had trailed out of her open mouth when she noticed an enormous 152 pack of _Crayola Crayons_ sitting on a shelf in the arts and crafts section of the store. The Professor knew that he had a little artist on his hands, and grabbed a set of the coloring utensils off the shelf before the little blonde could say anything. He had also made sure to grab plenty of brightly colored construction paper for her, even knowing that she would very likely need more _very_ soon.

Buttercup, however, was different. While the girls had moved around the aisles at nearly break-neck speed, the black-haired girl trailed closely behind her adopted father, barely noticing any of the many things that surrounded her in the enormous store. The Professor didn't think that she didn't have any interests – he was sure that she did. But he imagined that she was too scared to speak up, or simply didn't want to. Once Blossom and Bubbles had finished picking out all of their things, the Professor turned to look back at the third child. He was about to ask her if there was anything that had caught her eye, and it seemed to him that there was.

Buttercup had stopped in the linens section, not even alerting the Professor or her sisters to the fact that she had stopped, so the scientist and her two sisters had been a few feet ahead of her. He walked over to the silent child, and turned his gaze to the thing she had been staring at. It was a small, green blanket, nestled between two large comforter sets for a bed. It had a tag on it, indicating it wasn't some random customer's kid's lost item. The black-haired child shuffled to the blanket and took it in her hands, instantly rubbing the plush material against her cheek.

"Do you want that?" The Professor spoke out. He was feeling thankful that the two other girls had still been ahead in the store, unaware to the fact that Buttercup, easily the toughest of the three, had her eye on a _blanket._ She turned to him, nodding meekly.

"Don't tell Blossom or Bubbles," she murmured to him, presenting the green blanket to him so that he could hold it and take it to the cart for her.

"I promise," he replied to her with a smile.  
-

The Professor was snapped out of his memories by the sounds of his adopted daughter's footsteps and the door from the back room opening. She stepped inside the waiting area, where the Professor had been seated.

"I'm ready to go," she murmured.

"When is your next appointment?" He asked her, sitting up from the seat and moving toward the door to the outside of the building.

"Next Wednesday, 3:00," she answered him. He acknowledged this with a nod.

They had gotten in the car and were soon headed back home. The Professor had mostly said nothing. He quickly learned that small talk was useless with Buttercup. She would speak to him if she felt like it. Otherwise, it was hard to get her to say much about how she was feeling or what was on her mind.

That is why the Professor was so taken aback when suddenly, Buttercup had actually initiated a conversation with him when they were about 10 minutes from their home.

"Dr. Hall has reptiles at her home. I think that's pretty cool. She has a ball python named Charcoal," she said to him in her normal voice, not too loud but not quiet like a murmur. It was just a simple conversation, but the Professor felt overjoyed nonetheless.

"Is that so?" He replied to her. Looking over, he noticed that the black-haired child had a small smile on her face. Buttercup smiling had been even more rare than the sound of her voice. The Professor thought his heart would burst.

She nodded. "Mmhm," was the only thing that she had mumbled after that. And that was it. The Professor hoped that she would have said more, but he wouldn't be too upset with her.

After all, every scientist knows that any progress is good progress.


	6. Breaking Point

**Here's chapter 6. Thanks for the reviews guys. To address a couple things mentioned in reviews - no girl will be "more powerful" than the other when they get their powers. I won't delve too far into this, you will see it when I put it up on here. Also, I want to go ahead and emphasize that this story will not have a lot of crime-fighting in it. I wrote this story to explore a family dynamic between Professor Utonium and the girls. I don't have any intentions of writing a lot of "action" into this story, per se. Sorry if that's bothersome to some of you. :( Also, to address user "helgabuttercup" - I have a PPGs tattoo on my shin. :) It's the girls in a circle with a heart border around it. I love it so much! Anyways, sorry about all the yapping. I'll try to be quiet from here on out. :) Happy reading~! -Delly  
** -

While the Professor had been off taking Buttercup to her therapy session, he had entrusted Blossom and Bubbles in the care of their neighbors, who had a young daughter about their age. Her name was Robin, and Blossom and Bubbles had taken almost an instant liking to her. Bubbles loved her orange tabby cat and Blossom liked discussing various literature (rather, she enjoyed talking _at_ Robin, while the girl simply nodded and smiled). The Professor knew that they would be just fine while he was gone, and he did not worry for them.

When the Professor and Buttercup entered the house after returning home, however, it was obvious that the two girls had returned home before them. Buttercup could hear their faint voices from behind the closed door of her room. She ran ahead of her adopted father, up the stairs and made a bee-line to the room she shared with her sisters. Opening the door, quietly, she realized something was wrong. They were whispering to each other, and the black-haired sister could hear the occasional crack in Bubbles' voice.

The redhead and blonde were huddled together, their backs to the door and seemingly huddled over something that Buttercup could not see. Darting her gaze to her lizard's tank, horror quickly struck her when she noticed that the glass terrarium was empty. She made a small, cautious step into the room.

"Wh-where's Spot?" Buttercup asked in a low voice. Hearing the voice of their sister, the two sitting on the ground were suddenly alerted to her presence, and they flung their heads around to stare at her. The two of them said nothing. They simply sat there. The silence was starting to seriously bug Buttercup, and she clenched her fists tightly and bared her teeth. "WHERE'S SPOT?" She growled the question once more at them, taking another step toward the two sisters.

Bubbles winced, and tears began to well up in her eyes. "B-B-Buttercup… I'm so sorry…" she whispered as the black-haired girl approached the two and, upon closer inspection, saw that Blossom was carrying the small yellow lizard. He looked unresponsive, which was abnormal for the type of lizard that he was.

At hearing the commotion, the Professor stepped into the room. "What's going on in here?"

In times similar to this, Bubbles normally would have run up to the Professor and tried to explain her case, usually in a fast-talking voice, so high-pitched that he had a hard time understanding what she was even saying. But this was not one of those times. She huddled near the ground, bringing her knees to her chest and sobbing into her legs. Buttercup grabbed the lizard from Blossom and brought her eyes close to him. He wasn't moving. The lack of neck movement, in which Blossom had once told her was called "buccal pumping", indicated that he was not breathing, either. Buttercup sucked in a deep breath. Her lip quivered and her mind raced violently. She cradled her fallen pet in her arms before slitting her eyes and staring at Blossom.

"Y-you killed him!" She cried out, pointing an accusatory finger at the redhead. "You murdered him in cold blood! I can't believe this." The tears flowed freely now. Her pent-up rage that she had been holding back for the last 7 days had finally exploded in a fury of negative energy.

"No, I didn't!" Blossom spoke quickly, attempting to defend herself in the only way she really could – her words.

The Professor, admittedly, was not experienced enough in dealing with this sort of issue. He had never even had pets when he was a child. He knew it would be difficult to console his daughters, but he couldn't just sit around and do nothing.

Buttercup had fallen to the floor, covering her face to the carpet and sobbing loudly, her shoulders shaking with each shuddering breath that she took. She soon felt the Professor's hand on her back.

"Buttercup, please don't jump to conclusions," he spoke to her in a soft voice. "It was probably an accident."

Bubbles nodded, looking up from where she had previously been sobbing and blinked the stray tears from her eyes.

"It's true!" Blossom spoke out next. She leaned close to Buttercup, as if doing so would make her easier to hear. "Buttercup, we're so sorry."

The black-haired child said nothing, she only continued to cry, but her sobbing was reduced to a quiet whimper. She refused to look her sisters, or her adoptive father, in the eyes. Blossom took this as an opportunity to continue speaking to her distressed sister.

"We thought Spot might want to meet Robin, so we took him out of his tank and brought him over to her house."

"And he was fine!" Bubbles blurted out, interrupting Blossom's story.

Blossom looked back at Bubbles momentarily, and then continued. "Yes, he was. But when we went to put him back in his tank after coming home, he wiggled out of Bubbles' hands and fell onto the tile in his tank. He didn't suffer, Buttercup." It was now the redhead's turn to cry. The Professor could see the tears pooling in her brown eyes. She hugged her sister tightly, trying to get her to say something. Anything. "I'm so sorry, Buttercup. I know you'll probably never forgive us. You'll probably hate Bubbles and I forever. It's okay. We understand."

Bubbles nodded, although the black-haired sister couldn't see her doing so. "It's true, Buttercup, we did a bad thing and we're really sorry." She got up and sat down next to her crying sister as well, opposite to Blossom, and hugged her from her other side.

Buttercup leaned her head up, but said nothing. The Professor stood over them, simply observing. Words had failed him now. In all of his years as a scientist, it was his job to make predictions. But he could have never guessed that something like this would ever happen to one of his daughters. His heart broke with her as he saw her defeated expression. After many, many minutes of silence, the black-haired child sat up. She held the lifeless body of her companion, who she had made a lasting friendship with despite only knowing him for 3 years, protectively in her arms. Continuing the silence, she opened the screen-top to his glass terrarium and placed him, ever so carefully, inside the cozy enclosure. On top of his favorite rock. She pressed a silent kiss on the glass of the terrarium and walked out of the room. "I'm going to the bathroom," was all she could be heard muttering before she was gone.

The girls and their father exchanged silent glances, and the two eventually found themselves in the Professor's arms as he reassured them that it was okay, that they weren't _murderers,_ and that there was nothing that they did wrong. Most of all, he convinced them that Buttercup would forgive them. But how long it would take, he couldn't necessarily tell them. He didn't know himself. How frustrating it was, to not know the answers to some questions. But this was a problem that couldn't be solved in a laboratory. Humans aren't machines and they're not genetic inventions, either, and sometimes they don't follow experimental models.  
-

Time passed. A lot of time had passed. It was now dinner time, and the Professor had instructed Blossom and Bubbles to find their sister and tell her it was time for them to eat. He didn't know if Buttercup would have much of an appetite, but he would want her to feel included with them at the dinner table, anyway. He wouldn't deny that small chance of comfort to his grieving adopted daughter.

The girls checked their room. They didn't immediately see her, which prompted Blossom to check the closet. Nope, she wasn't there. Bubbles painstakingly opened every drawer to their dresser, which was comical that the adorable little blonde had thought that she was even capable of hiding in one of those. Despite the situation, she giggled to herself. No, Buttercup couldn't possibly be hiding there, _silly Bubbles!_

They checked the Professor's room. She wasn't there either. The two sisters were dumbfounded. How could she be hiding under their very noses and not have them notice her? Then they both realized the place they hadn't looked yet. "The bathroom," they spoke out in unison and ran to the place that Buttercup said she would last be. They decided to forgo the usual knock and pushed the door open uneasily, peeking their heads in. They opened the door all the way and Blossom let out a startled gasp. The sister was nowhere to be found, but the incriminating evidence to the girl's disappearance was in front of them. _An open window._

The girls ran out of the bathroom and into the kitchen, where they found the Professor setting plates of food down at the table.

"Where is Buttercup, girls?" The Professor asked them, raising a single eyebrow to his two daughters.

The two gave each other a look of incredible terror and bewilderment and then looked up at the Professor. For once, Bubbles would allow her sister to speak first.

"Buttercup is _gone_."


	7. Missing Persons Report

**My writing motivation seems to be working in overtime. Have another update! Here we see Buttercup finally opening up after an unfortunate event. Worried about the pacing? Don't be. The story's not over yet. ;) Happy reading! -Delly**

The Professor, with Bubbles and Blossom in tow, walked down the stark white hallways of the building. Doors lined the hallways, and they passed by many of them. Each door had several names written on a dry-erase board. Bubbles was able to peek into one of the open doors, and noticed that the rooms had several beds in them. She wasn't quite sure where exactly they had gone to. The Professor simply told them that this was where Buttercup has been for the last three days, and they were going to pick her up…  
-

It had been 3 days since Buttercup went missing, and that was a feeling that the Professor never wanted to experience ever again. He remembered his heart skipping a beat when his two daughters had told him that they couldn't find Buttercup in the house. He ran outside, hoping that he would find her in the backyard. With no such luck, he and the girls then tried several of the neighbors. Nobody had seen Buttercup in days. Nobody had even seen her walking around the neighborhood. Knowing how unsafe Townsville is, the Professor assumed the worst-case scenario. Nonetheless, he called 9-1-1 to report his daughter missing.

Blossom and Bubbles had been forbidden to go outside and search for their lost sister, despite how badly they had wanted to do so. No, the Professor wasn't risking another one of his children going missing. Bubbles sat in their room, at her desk she designated for drawing. But inspiration could not strike in her grief-stricken mind. She doodled aimlessly. Using a green crayon, she drew the form of her sister. A black crayon and some scribbles marked her hair, indicating it was Buttercup she was drawing. Most telling about Bubbles, however, was that she drew her sister with a _smile_. She moved to the window of her bedroom. Looking out, she rested her chin on the window sill, hoping more than anything that she would catch a glimpse of her sister.

Blossom tried to take her mind off the situation by immersing herself in a book. She chose an easy read, _The Bean Trees._ As she read of the many adventures of Taylor and her reluctantly adopted daughter, Turtle, the thought of her sister still nagged the deep recesses of her mind. She couldn't focus on the literature. Putting the book down, she decided that she needed to be more productive. She had gone downstairs, asking the Professor if there were any chores that needed to be done. He replied blankly that, no, there wasn't. He had done them all. He didn't even look at her, he simply stared at the phone next to him.

It took several hours. Several agonizing hours before the child would finally be found. The Professor stood by the phone, refusing to move. He did not eat, or sleep. He barely blinked. His mind raced with every possible fate that could have befallen her adopted daughter. What if some predator had taken advantage of her vulnerable state and abducted her? _Or worse?_ He shuddered at the thought. Tears formed in his eyes as he imagined a scenario no parent wants to imagine: a call saying that the search was over. A body has been found and is waiting on positive identification.

The Professor didn't have time to break out in ugly tears before the phone rang. He grabbed the phone in lightning speed and choked out a small "hello?" The voice on the other end of the phone was the voice belonging to the police chief, Mr. Boulder, who he had spoken to earlier when he had filed the missing person's report.

"Mr. Utonium, we've found your daughter."  
-

The halls of the building smelled so sterile, so incredibly clean. But it was eerie how empty the building felt. The only people they had seen were nurses wearing scrubs, who Bubbles has surmised had worked there. But this didn't look like any hospital she had seen before. Why would Buttercup be in a hospital anyway? She wasn't hurt. Bubbles was tired of speculating. She wanted answers. She walked to the Professor's side and looked up at him. "Professor, what happened to Buttercup? Is she sick?"

The Professor looked down at the blonde, and over to Blossom, who was walking on the other side of him. He figured that Blossom had not known the exact details of Buttercup's current situation, but that she potentially had a small idea. He didn't have a chance to explain before they stopped in front of a door. The door was 3C, and the girls recognized the name "Buttercup" written on the dry erase board among probably 6 or 7 others. The door was shut, so the Professor took this opportunity to try and explain the situation to his daughters.

"Bubbles, Blossom," he spoke to both of them. "This is a hospital, yes, but this is not a hospital you go to if you're sick or injured."

Blossom nodded, "so, this is a mental hospital?"

The Professor nodded, deciding not to think too hard about why or how Blossom had known of such things. To his knowledge, Buttercup nor her sisters had ever been kept at a mental hospital before. "Yes, this is a mental hospital. After Buttercup ran away, she was taken to a regular hospital to make sure she was okay. Remember when we visited her, Bubbles?" He asked the blonde, who returned his question with a small nod. "Well, the regular hospital decided that Buttercup needed to stay here for a couple of days," the Professor continued, "so that they can watch her closely and make sure she doesn't try to run away again. We don't want that, right?" Bubbles and Blossom nodded in unison.

"No! That was very scary!" Bubbles shouted out, hugging the picture she had drawn for her sister to her chest. "We didn't know where she was and we waited soooo long before they found her!" The blonde was nearly shouting, and the Professor was worried that Buttercup, who was inside the room, would hear her. He tried to quiet the hysterical blonde down by shushing her gently.

"Now, girls," he murmured, addressing the two of them. "Buttercup is still hurting now. Let's remember to try and be especially nice to her and not hurt her feelings or make her feel bad about what happened. Understand?"

"We understand," Blossom answered, hugging his chest quickly and then backing away, allowing her father to open the door for them.

They walked inside. The room was almost as bare as the walls that the three had just walked down. Like their old orphanage, there were several beds in this room. Some kids about Buttercup's age were in the room as well. Some noticed the family enter, others didn't. Buttercup was seen in one of the beds closest to them.

She was sitting on top of the sheets, wearing a simple green t-shirt, and some shorts. Despite sitting on a bed, she also wore shoes. Bubbles thought it was silly that Buttercup's shoes didn't have any shoelaces on it, and she wanted to giggle. But then she remembered what her father had told her about not making fun of Buttercup, and so she stopped herself. Buttercup's jet-black hair sat in a messy mop on top of her head. It was obvious that, without her adopted father or her sisters to do her hair for her, it was neglected by the small child.

Bubbles initiated a greeting with her sister. She ran up to the side of her bed and presented the picture to her. "Buttercup! I drew this picture for you. Look, it's all three of us. Me, you and Blossom! Do you love it?" She grinned up at her sister.

Although being almost sickly-sweet was just part of Bubble's unique personality, and she didn't expect to get much of a reaction out of Buttercup, the blonde was surprised when she saw her sister turn her head, smile, and gently take the drawing from her. She eyed it carefully. "I love it," she murmured.

Bubbles squealed out and jumped up on the bed next to Buttercup, hugging her neck and placing a small pecking kiss on her cheek. Blossom soon joined her. "We missed you so much, Buttercup." The redhead ran her fingers through her sister's black hair, brushing some of the random strands from her eyes and forehead. She hugged her as well, pressing their cheeks together, and eliciting a small chuckle from Buttercup. The Professor was the last to join them as he walked to Buttercup's bed side.

"Are you ready to go, sweetie?" He smiled down at the happy reunion from the three sisters. But once he was closer to Buttercup, he realized just how disheveled she really looked. Dark purple skin lined the bottom of her eyes and she looked… unusually thin. He wondered if she had eaten at all the entire time she had been here. A hospital wristband hung loosely around her right arm, and she looked paler than normal. He would be sure that she got all of her favorite foods for the next few days. Anything had to be better than this terrible hospital food. He wanted to wince at the thought.

Buttercup nodded, jumping down the bed. She stretched her arms out and spoke mid-yawn, "yeah, let's get outta here."

"I promise Blossom hasn't farted on your side of the bed too much while you were gone," Bubbles giggled a whisper to Buttercup as they left the room, her giggles getting louder when she felt a jab in the rib from the redhead and a frustrated groan.  
-

It was getting late in the Utonium household, and the Professor was getting ready to put the three girls to bed. While Bubbles and Blossom waited patiently for their father to tuck them in, Buttercup was absent. She was in the Professor's bedroom. Sitting on his bed, facing him. She looked meek and she held her green blanket to her cheek, trying to find comfort in the soft material. She had decided that nightgowns, despite the fact her sisters loved them, weren't really for her. So her pajamas consisted of a t-shirt and pajama shorts, since she would get exceptionally hot during the summer nights, making her unable to sleep.

The Professor quickly realized that Buttercup did not particularly enjoy physical affection like her sisters did. Many attempts at close physical contact with her didn't elicit much of a reaction from her. She didn't react negatively, or positively. Just neutrally. Therefore, he simply sat next to her. He sucked in a breath of air through his nostrils, and then spoke.

"How are you feeling, Buttercup?" He asked simply.

"Pretty dumb," she answered.

"And why is that?" He tried to prod her to express her feelings as best as he could. He didn't want to push her, but he wanted her to try and open up to him. The moment she looked uncomfortable, he would stop.

Buttercup averted her gaze, "B-because what I did was really stupid…"

The Professor sighed. He wanted to say, _well yes_ , and agree with her. But he knew this wasn't the time. Talking to her was like walking on eggshells. He would have to be very careful with her. "Sweetie, it's okay. I am not mad, and your sisters aren't mad, either. They're happy to have you back. They were worried sick about you." He leaned down to her and rested a hand gently on her back. "And… I was too," he admitted to her.

Buttercup looked up at him, her green eyes glistening. "I…I have caused you and my sisters nothing but trouble since I got here," she murmured and looked down at her hands, frowning. "Maybe you should just take me back to the orphanage…"

"That's not happening," the father figure replied quickly in a very rarely used, stern voice, which surprised even the usually-stoic Buttercup. "I adopted the three of you as a trio, and I will not separate you three. I will take care of you and make sure _nothing_ happens to you, Buttercup." She looked up at him, and he continued speaking, "…and that goes for your sisters as well." She gave a small nod at this.

"What you did was wrong, Buttercup, and I know that you know that," he continued to talk to her in a stern tone. Her eyes widened slightly as she felt the Professor begin to pick her up. He turned her to face him, and his expression softened and the serious tone of his voice was replaced by his usual, gentle one, "…but that's in the past. It's said and done. We can't change it now. You're not going anywhere. You're staying here with me, and your sisters. I will personally make sure that you never end up in that terrible place ever again. You will have a comfortable place to sleep and eat and you can have everything you could ever ask for, here. Do you understand?"

Another nod. "Mmhm…"

He smiled at this answer, albeit rather short. He gently brought her to his chest and wrapped his arms around her. "Please, Buttercup, don't ever scare me like that again," he murmured to the child.

She pressed her cheek against his chest, and the Professor felt tiny arms wrap around his torso, hugging him in a very small, gentle, Buttercup-hug.

"I promise, _dad_ …"


	8. First Day of School

**This is probably, admittedly, my weakest chapter in this fic. I've been struggling with very bad writer's block, which is why this chapter took so long to write. I might do some much-needed revisions to this chapter later on, but for right now, I hope you can power through it. This is mostly some exposition stuff, exploring a little bit more of Buttercup's personality and adding some small quirks to the story. Small warning - there is a "bad" word that is spoken a few times in this fic, but I didn't think it was bad enough to move the rating up. It is not one of the "bad seven" words. Anyway, hopefully the next chapter will come a little easier to me. Happy Reading - Delly  
-**

Buttercup sat down on the soft grass in the backyard of their house. She placed a hand, ever so gently, down on a patch of soft dirt in front of her. "See, Noodle, this is where Spot is buried," she spoke to the black and brown snake perched around her neck. "He's kind of your cousin, or something." She let out a small chuckle before she heard the sliding glass door of the house opening.

"Buttercup, come inside. It's almost time for school," the Professor called out to her.

"Okay!" She called back, standing up from her spot and placing a protective hand on her snake to keep her from falling.

Stepping into the house, she noticed that her sisters were already seated and eating breakfast –their favorite cereal, Lucky Captain Rabbit King Nuggets.

"I just gotta put Noodle back in her tank and I'll be right back!" Buttercup called out, already halfway up the stairs by the time she was finishing talking.

"Professor, how come Buttercup gets to have a pet snake and I can't have a pet mouse?" Bubbles questioned her father, the innocence evident in her eyes.

The Professor was about to give her the straight truth, whereas Blossom would have probably just skirted around the issue. _Snakes eat mice, duh._ "Well, dear," the Professor began to speak, "that's because mi-"

"I'm back!" Buttercup called out, running back into the kitchen. She jumped into her seat and chowed down on her breakfast with the veracity of a hungry hyena, in a typical Buttercup fashion. It wasn't long before Buttercup was finished, almost before her sisters had despite having started eating much later than them. She was about to jump back off her seat before the Professor stopped her.

"Buttercup, aren't you forgetting something?" He asked her as he pulled the top off of an orange pill bottle. Thankfully, Blossom and Bubbles were already out of the room, so they would spare her sister the teasing that she feared would ensue if they found out she was _medicated._

"O-oh yeah…" She murmured, letting out a nervous chuckle and taking the small orange pill from the Professor. She plopped the pill into her mouth and drank a glass of water, that he had provided her, to help down it. The Professor remembered how nervous Buttercup had been about swallowing pills whole when she was first prescribed this medication. _But I'll choke!_ He would tell her. He assured her that there was no way she could choke on a pill so small, but that didn't stop her from attempting to show her dramatic side occasionally…

"Alright." He looked down at his wristwatch and turned toward the exit of the kitchen, "time to go, girls."

Buttercup finally got up from the table and, being courteous enough to put her dirty bowl in the sink, walked into the living room and toward the door, her sisters joining her by her side. Before the incident of Buttercup disappearing a couple months back, the Professor might have been ok with the girls walking to school. But he would risk nothing, now, and he insisted on driving them.

"Is everybody ready for their first day of school?" The Professor asked the three girls, sitting in the back seat of the car, as he pulled out of the driveway of their house.

Blossom, of course, was the first to nod excitedly. "Uh huh! I did all of my summer reading back in May, though, so I hope I can remember all of it."

"I'm sure you will, sweetie," the Professor answered her.

"I hope that the kids in class are nice and that they like coloring and that they have a class hamster like Ms. Keane did and that the teacher isn't a big green scary looking monster with huge horns!" Bubbles blurted out.

The Professor raised an eyebrow at her, but shrugged and replied to her rambling, "I don't think you need to worry about that, Bubbles."

Buttercup simply looked out the window at the trees, with the occasional house passing them by. The subject of school was a sensitive one for the child. While Blossom and Bubbles would be going up to 2nd grade, she was held back. Being an older kid in a first grade class embarrassed her immensely. To add to the shame she felt, she hated how Blossom had tried to stick up for her, begging their teacher to let Buttercup move up with them. Their teacher was steadfast, however, and no amount of pleading or puppy-dog eyes from the extremely gifted child would change her mind.

The Professor looked at the black-haired child from the rear-view mirror of the car. "Buttercup?" He spoke sternly to her.

"Yes, Professor?" She answered him, looking away from the window to look at his reflection in the mirror.

"Are we going to try and focus today?"

This elicited an audible groan from the child. "Yes…"

Before he could lecture her any longer, they had pulled up to the school. It was a large building, as it had grades 1 through 5 in it. He stopped in the drop off area to let the girls out of the car.

Buttercup brought her hand up to wave it slightly.

"Goodbye Professor, see you this afternoon!" Blossom spoke through the open passenger's side window. Bubbles poked her head in next to Blossom, slightly messing up her red bow, much to her sister's chagrin.

"Goodbye, Professor! Make good experiments and stuff today!" She blew a kiss to him.

He smiled back at them and waved to them, "See you later, girls!" and he was gone. The three watched him leave, and then turned toward the school. Buttercup let out an audible sigh, not even hearing whatever stupid thing Blossom was jabbering about to them.

School went by without much excitement for Bubbles and Blossom. To them, it was like a normal school day. The two girls were in the same class, and their teacher had spent most of the day playing "icebreaker" activities with the girls, to try and learn more about the students. Blossom was slightly disappointed that they wouldn't start off the class by discussing the books she had read over the summer for the class, but she figured that a free day of play couldn't hurt her, either.

The Professor had been so busy working in his lab, working with a microscope and excising cell clusters in a _Xenopus laevis_ embryo, in order to determine a cellular fate map of the species. He almost didn't even hear the faint buzzing of his cell phone, which indicated that his alarm had gone off and he needed to pick up his girls from school.

The girls recognized his car pulling up into the school's pick up zone and the girls hopped into the car. Bubbles had called shotgun before the Professor had even gotten there, so she happily climbed into the front seat.

"So, how was-" The Professor didn't even have to finish his sentence before his redheaded daughter started speaking.

"Oh, it was great! Some of my old classmates are in class with me, and Bubbles is in my class too! Our teacher seems really nice. There was a kid being mean to Bubbles but the teacher put him in time out and that made everything better," she ended her ramble with a wide grin.

"Yeah! And we got to draw lots of pictures. I drew a picture of a pretty butterfly, and a unicorn, and a dragon… and our teacher said that I was a very good artist!" Bubbles spoke once her sister had finished.

"That's great, Bubbles," the Professor replied to her, smiling at the girl sitting next to him in the car. "And what about you, Buttercup?" He noticed how quiet the black-haired child was being.

"It was okay," she murmured, crossing her arms and looking down at her feet. "E-… except I got detention," she admitted, a small twinge of guilt in her voice.

The Professor sighed at this. Detention already? On the first day of school? He asked her blankly, "Why did you get detention, Buttercup?"

She chewed on her bottom lip for a moment, and then tried to answer him. "Hm… well…"

He eyed her as best as he could without taking his eyes off the road for too long. "Well, Buttercup?"

Buttercup leaned back in the seat of the car and let out a loud sigh, looking up at the ceiling of the car. "Some stupid kid in my class called me a dyke so I punched him the jaw," she answered him as quickly as possible. She saw the Professor's eyes widen from his reflection in the rearview mirror.

"He called you what, Buttercup?"

She clenched her fists, trying to repeat the word, "d-d-dyke…"

Bubbles blinked, then turned to look at the Professor. "Professor, what's a dyke?" she asked innocently. Blossom smacked her hand to her forehead from the backseat of the car, sighing quietly.

"It's a derogatory word for a gay woman, Bubbles," she answered. The Professor nodded. "It's also bad word, so don't use it again." At hearing this, the blonde cupped her small hands over her agape mouth. She turned into the back to look at her black-haired sister. She wondered why one of the kids in her class had called her that. _Was_ her sister gay? She only had a vague understanding what that word even meant, but she was scared of speaking up again, so she wouldn't say anything else on this matter.

Buttercup could feel herself sinking farther into the seat of the car, which the Professor noticed. He was upset with Buttercup for using force, but this was also a sensitive subject. He cleared his throat before speaking once more.

"Yes, well… Buttercup, you know that what that kid said was mean, but that doesn't mean that you needed to punch him."

She crossed her arms once more. "Y-yeah, well, he deserved it…"

"You can't just punch everyone that makes you mad, Buttercup," the Professor spoke to her in a stern voice, seemingly ignoring what she had said before. He heard her groan from the back seat. Though he had to wonder what exactly had prompted this unknown child to call Buttercup such a name. Her manner of dress wasn't exactly abnormal for a girl her age, and she never seemed to show any interest in boys or crushes in general. He dismissed this pretty quickly as just a kid being mean. Though it did hurt to hear the dejected manner in which Buttercup had uttered _that word._ He _almost_ didn't want to blame her for reacting the way she did, but he would need to discipline her, nonetheless.

"Even if they deserve it?!" She spoke out, her arms out at her sides in frustration.

The Professor had now pulled into the driveway of their home.

Parking the car, he turned to look at the black-haired child. "One more detention and you're grounded, young lady."

She averted his gaze and murmured her reply, "yes, Professor…"  
-

The day was ending and it was almost time for the girls to go to bed. But Buttercup wasn't tired. She sat on her bed, her snake wrapped around her neck. Noodle brought her head to Buttercup's cheek, flicking her tongue out curiously. She then crawled up through the tresses of her shaggy black hair. She giggled and allowed the snake to explore her head further.

"You know she likes hanging around on you because she likes your warmth?" Blossom spoke with a smirk as she walked out of the bathroom that was connected to their room, having just finished getting ready for bed.

"Yeah, snakes are cold blooded. They like warm things," Buttercup answered her, taking the snake back into her hands. "I know some things, you know."

Blossom simply shrugged, not in the mood to pick a fight with her sister this late at night. She was tired, and there would always be other petty arguments to bicker about needlessly. "Fair enough," she murmured, climbing onto the bed, being careful not to disturb the already sleeping Bubbles.

The Professor soon entered the girls' room to say his usual goodnights to them and tuck them into bed. Despite the fact that Bubbles was already very much asleep, he treated her to a small kiss on the forehead.

"Goodnight, Professor," Blossom beamed as he kissed her on the forehead.

"Goodnight, Blossom," he answered her. Moving his gaze to Buttercup, he helped her nestle to bed, and gently took Noodle into his arms. "I'll put your snake back in her tank for you, Buttercup." He leaned down, kissed her on the forehead, and then got up from where he was sitting on the edge of the bed. "Let's try to have a better day at school tomorrow, okay, Buttercup?" He spoke out to her as he placed the child's snake back in her enclosure.

Buttercup frowned. "Yeah, yeah, sure… goodnight," she muttered.

He smiled at the three of them as the two still-awake children watched him crack the door for the blonde child and moved down the hallway, out of sight.

While Blossom boarded the dreamland express rather quickly, Buttercup couldn't help but toss and turn underneath the heavy sheets of her beg. A nagging feeling heavy in her brain, making her unable to relax. Close to an hour later, she finally succumbed to her exhaustion and fell into a fitful, restless sleep.


	9. Snakes are Nice, Right?

**Here's chapter 9. I won't spoil anything, just go ahead and read! Thanks for reading :). -Delly  
** -

The redhead that lay in the center of the bed would only be asleep for a couple hours before she was roused awake from the feeling of small hands shaking her gently.

"Blossom…!" The voice called out to her in a whisper. It was hard to ignore the sense of urgency in her voice.

Blossom frowned, groaning a little and opening her eyes slightly to look up at the person who had awoken her. In the small amount of moonlight that had filtered in through the windows in their bedroom, she could tell it was Buttercup.

"Wh-what is it…?" She murmured to her sister, very much still half-asleep and barely comprehending what was happening.

Buttercup sat back on the bed so that she was no longer leaning towards her sister. "I…I think the Professor forgot to put the screen clamps on Noodle's tank, and I think she escaped."

Blossom sighed. Her sister woke her up for _this?_ "Buttercup, we have school tomorrow, we really need to go back to bed…" At saying this, the redhead leaned back down against her pillows, ready to snuggle back into the sheets and go back to sleep.

"No!" She cried out, slightly louder in tone and causing their blonde sister to stir on the other side of the bed. "Please, Blossom, help me look for her," she pleaded, "just for 10 minutes, then you can go back to bed. I promise!"

Blossom opened a single eye and looked up at Buttercup's mostly obscured features. "You _promise?"_ She tried to reiterate what her sister had said.

"Yes, yes! Now please help me!" Buttercup answered her as she jumped off the bed.

Blossom sighed once more. She pushed her long, orange hair behind her back as she followed behind Buttercup. As they opened the door, they could hear the sound of Bubbles stirring once more on the bed behind them.

"Where are you two going?" She asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and leaning up from her pillow to look at them both.

Blossom was about to assure her blonde sister that nothing was wrong and that they would be back in a minute, but Buttercup quickly intervened.

"Bubbles, help us look for Noodle. She's not in her tank and we need to find her fast, she can still be out in the open somewhere. The longer we wait, the easier it'll be for her to disappear..."

It surprised Bubbles to hear how frantic her sister was. Despite how tired she felt, she wanted to help her sister out. She, too, jumped down from the bed and met the two at their side. She nodded tiredly, and she let out a loud yawn before whispering her reply, "ok, let's go."

The three girls stayed on the top floor of the house, but split into separate areas. Blossom checked the bathroom. She knew that snakes liked to hide, so she would have to look in a lot of tight spaces. Behind the toilet? No, she wasn't there. She opened the cabinets of the bathroom to check behind the pipes. She wasn't there either. Letting out a frustrated sigh, she turned the bathroom light off and began to walk down the stairs.

Buttercup stopped in front of the Professor's room. The door was closed and she dared not open it and disturb him. She bit her lip and her heart seemed to race. What if Noodle had slipped into the Professor's room? She would be in big trouble if he awoke to find a snake in his bed. She shook her head to herself. No, she didn't want to risk waking the Professor. If worst came to worst, she would just have to deal with being in trouble with him. At the very least, his terrified screaming would alert her to the snake's presence.

She passed his room and looked into the guest bedroom, where Bubbles already was. The two took turns checking every nook and cranny of the spare bedroom. But they couldn't catch even the slightest glimpse of her little black tail. Buttercup groaned quietly in frustration.

There were no more places to look upstairs, and so the two made their way downstairs, where Blossom was already checking the living room. She did not want to risk waking up the Professor by turning on the lights in the living room, so she had decided to bring a flash light with her, hoping that the small amount of light wouldn't be enough to let him know they were awake. Unfortunately, with less visibility, the snake would be much harder to find. Still, she made the best effort she could. She checked underneath their couch, behind their tv, behind their bookshelf, even in the fireplace. This snake certainly knew how to get around a house!

Buttercup had gone to check the Professor's office while Bubbles went to check the kitchen. The blonde got down on her knees on the tiled floor of the kitchen and peered underneath the refrigerator. She saw nothing, except for some old food crumbs, and a sheet of temporary tattoos that the girls had once found in a cereal box. She wondered where those had gone…

She soon realized that the snake wasn't in the kitchen, and so she moved a room over to check the garage. She tiptoed around the cold, concrete floor of the garage, frowning as she looked down at her now very dirty feet. That, and the fact that the snake had seemingly not touched this location had now frustrated her greatly.

She left the garage and was about to tell Buttercup that she wanted to call it quits. She was cold and her feet were dirty and she was tired and she was ready to go back to bed! She rounded the corner, "Buttercup…" she began to speak, but she was soon interrupted by her dark-haired sister.

"Wait," she murmured. She stood in front of an unmarked door. Blossom soon joined her from the other side of the hallway, and the three girls converged at both of Buttercup's sides. Blossom's gaze was soon transfixed to the door as well. They had never been in this room of the house before and, save for the Professor's room, this was the only room in the house they hadn't checked yet.

Interestingly enough, the girls had never really bothered to ask the Professor what this room was or what it was for. It never seemed to be a topic of much interest for the girls and the room always seemed so inconspicuous and tucked away that they never found themselves wondering about it. Except for today.

"One last room," Buttercup murmured, "then I promise we can go to sleep."

She opened the door cautiously and, finding a light switch to the left of her, quickly flipped the lights to the room on. She was surprised to find a staircase in front of her. They had a whole other floor to their house and they had no idea?!

Bubbles and Blossom exchanged nervous glances as Buttercup took the first step down the stairs, making sure to hold onto the handrail. As she rounded the corner of the staircase and stepped into the enormous room, her eyes widened at the sight before her. Blossom and Bubbles soon joined her and their reactions were much like Buttercup's. They stared in awe of the room. They now realized where the Professor had spent the bulk of his time that he wasn't with them – his lab, inventing things.

They looked at all the various machines that were packed along the walls of the room. Many beeping noises could be heard, blinking lights, monitors showing different arrays and graphs and algorithms – things that were much too advanced even for the well-read Blossom. The three quickly realized that, of all the rooms in their house, a snake could very, _very_ easily hide here.

They darted around the room, rationalizing in their brains that there was no way the Professor would be able to hear them running around down here. They looked inside cabinets, underneath computers and enormous machines, behind vials containing strange liquids of various colors, and many filing cabinets. Returning to the center of the room, the three sighed almost completely in unison.

Buttercup was so sure that she would find her down here… then, suddenly, she thought she saw a small glimpse of something moving out of the corner of her eye. She directed her sights to a large cabinet in the corner of the room. The cabinet contained many vials of different sizes. Some were very large, while others were small, and they were each marked with a label specifying what type of chemical the vials contained. And, lo and behold, on top of this cabinet Buttercup could see the small twitching black tail of her snake, Noodle.

"Gotcha!" She called out, grinning impishly and running over to the front of the cabinet. There was only one problem. The cabinet was tall, and the girls would not be able to reach Noodle without some sort of assistance.

"Maybe we should get the Professor?" Bubbles suggested, realizing what Buttercup's intentions were. Blossom nodded at her blonde sister's notion.

She turned to them, eyeing both of them carefully before shaking her head and replying, "no, we can't let him know that we were awake this late, he'll be mad at all three of us."

Buttercup looked back up at the cabinet. She knew that Noodle wouldn't be there for long, so they had no time to waste. "I bet I could boost you up there, Blossom, and you can grab her…" she thought aloud.

"What?" The redhead cried out, clearly taken aback.

Buttercup chuckled to herself at hearing his sister's reaction. "I promise I won't drop you. Besides, I'm stronger than both of you so I need to be the one doing the boosting."

Blossom rolled her eyes and let out a quiet scoff. But, deep down, she knew Buttercup was right. And she certainly didn't want to get in trouble with the Professor! She felt conflicted, but she soon conceded defeat. "Okay, Buttercup, let's do this."

The black-haired child kneeled down in front of the redhead. "Okay, get on my shoulders and then I'll stand up." Blossom, her legs feeling slightly shaky, complied as best as she could to her sister's command. Though she did get a little help from Bubbles to steady herself.

Buttercup grit her teeth slightly and then stood up, wobbling a little but quickly regaining her balance. "O-okay Blossom, grab her…" she muttered to her sister.

Blossom stretched her legs out, her feet being held firmly by Buttercup's grasp, and she soon got a hold of the tip of the snake's tail, just barely hanging over the edge of the tall cabinet. "I got her!" she called out to Buttercup excitedly and began to gently pull her down. She quickly noticed, however, that the snake had seemed much heavier than usual…

Nonetheless, she continued to pull, more and more of the snake's long body emerging from the top of the cabinet as Blossom continued to get her into her grasp.

Soon, Blossom had gotten a hold of the entire snake. But with Noodle's head, another object came barreling down towards them. It was as if the snake had been coiled around a vial of a certain chemical and, when she had been pulled, it had come down with her. The chemical was black, and that was all that the redhead could tell about the liquid. Her eyes widened, and she barely had time to react before the heavy vial hit her square on the head and continued tumbling down to the ground. She let out a loud yell from the impact wobbling on her sister's shoulders, causing them both to lose balance.

Buttercup yelped in response, and Bubbles let out a terrified scream as the vial hit the ground, shattering and splashing the vial's contents directly onto the three girls, soaking them almost completely. The sound of glass shattering and the subsequent soak from the chemical caused Buttercup to drop Blossom by accident. She tried to yell out that she was sorry, but she barely had time to focus on what had just happened as the black liquid covered her skin in a thick, mucous-like coating. She couldn't scream. She could barely breathe. The three fell to the ground, their body's muscle processes failing them.

Buttercup got one last look at her sisters as she lay helpless on the ground, the two seemingly suffering the same fate as her. In her delirious state, she could have sworn she heard footsteps and the voice of the Professor, but what he was saying, she couldn't understand. She began to tremble involuntarily. Pain wracked her body, but she wouldn't be conscious for most of it. She got one last, blurry view of her two sisters, her two _terrified_ sisters, before her eyesight faded to black.


	10. Four Days

**Sorry for the huge delay in getting this next chapter out. Most of the other chapters will be like this, about a week or two in between updates. I am VERY busy with two college summer classes. :o(** **Never take Genetics and Developmental Biology in the same summer semester...just don't try it. Anyway, I hope you enjoy. Happy reading! -Delly  
-**

 _Beep…beep…beep…_

Bubbles regained consciousness, but she could not find the strength to open her eyes. She felt exhausted, more tired than she had ever felt in her whole life. She had no idea where she was, only that she could hear a faint, beeping noise… She couldn't remember much. What had happened before she went to sleep? She vaguely remembered helping Buttercup find her snake, but everything else seemed like a blur… She let out a small groan of pain, and tried to sit up, but to no avail. She lied back down on the pillow behind her.

After a few moments, the blonde found the strength to open her eyes, if only slightly. The blurry view of a completely white room was all that was in front of her. It didn't take her more than half a second to realize she wasn't in her bedroom. She shut her eyes again. She took a short breath before attempting to speak. She was able to croak out a small "Professor", hoping that her father was somewhere around to explain what was going on. She could feel that something was poked into her arm, but she didn't know what. It wasn't long before she felt the familiar hand of her father, stroking her blonde hair gently, before she lost consciousness once more.

 _Beep… beep… beep…_

Blossom was the second to awaken. She had woken up when she heard her sister, Bubbles, saying something unintelligible. The redhead let out a small whimper as she sat up from the bed, rubbing her eyes tiredly. She soon noticed the IV that stuck to her arm, and was taped in place. On her other arm, she had a small, orange wristband. She was in a hospital? Why was she in a hospital? She was still very groggy, and so she slowly turned her head to her blonde sister, who was lying in the hospital bed next to hers. The Professor stood in a chair next to Bubbles' hospital bed. They seemingly hadn't noticed that she had woken up.

The redhead let out a small cough. It was obvious that speech wouldn't be too easy for her, but she tried regardless. "P-Professor, wh-what happened…?" Blossom called out to her father, her voice not very loud at all but they were still able to hear.

Bubbles turned to face her sister, and she smiled widely at her. "Blossom, you're okay!" She cried out, overjoyed that her sister was seemingly in good health after what had apparently happened to them. Blossom returned her sister's emotions with a small smile.

"Of course she is fine, Bubbles," The Professor spoke, now, standing up from the chair he had previously been sitting in next to Bubbles. "You're all fine. You've been at the hospital for a few days, but you're all in stable condition now."

Blossom brushed the hair from her face with her fingers and let out a yawn. "I-I can't remember anything right now… what happened to us, Professor?" She looked up at her father as he began to walk towards her. Her head hurt a little, and everything seemed so fuzzy. She thought she remembered going down into the lab with Buttercup and Bubbles, but everything else was not coming to her easily. She hoped they hadn't been hurt too bad, but the Professor said they were fine...right?

"You three got into an accident down in my lab at home," the Professor spoke to her, obviously trying not to sugarcoat the information he was relaying to her. He mentally cursed himself for forgetting to lock the lab that night. He usually remembered to, but that particular night was a rough one, and he had forgotten. Of course, it would be the one night that the girls had decided to venture down there… He couldn't blame himself, though, or the girls. It was simply a freak accident. It was nothing that any of them could have predicted. He wouldn't be mad at them for messing around in his lab. Being in this hospital was punishment enough for them.

Blossom gasped, accidentally tugging at the IV on her arm and yelping a little from the pinched feeling. "I-I-I-I-I'm sorry!" she cried out, tears forming in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Professor!"

"Yeah, I'm sorry too," Bubbles was heard sniffling behind them. "I'm sorry that we messed with your lab stuff."

"It's okay, girls," he answered them with a sigh. "You just…have to be more careful, from now on." As he spoke, he began to scoop Blossom up into his arms to give her a reassuring hug. He had already given one to Bubbles earlier, as she was the first of the three to wake up.

Which begged the question…

"Professor," Blossom spoke, snuggling into her father's shirt, "…where is Buttercup?"

At this, the Professor gave a pained look, which went unnoticed by Blossom. "Buttercup is… in a quarantine room of the hospital," he tried to explain in the best way that he could. "The doctors are worried about her…condition. And so they decided to keep her separate from you two."

Bubbles lower lip quivered as she looked at the two, and the Professor turned to face the blonde, adjusting Blossom's IV so that he could continue to hold her. "Wh-what's wrong with Buttercup?"  
-

The raven-haired child let out short, ragged breaths as she felt herself returning to consciousness. There were the sounds of several machines all around her. It seemed as if the noise was almost magnified in a way. She shut her eyes tight and grit her teeth. Oh, how she wished they would all shut up…

Realizing that she probably was not going to be able to go to sleep any time soon, she sat up from the bed and opened her eyes. She was in a thin cloth hospital gown, and she could feel several sticky pads lining her chest and stomach, which were connected to a machine making one of the beeping noises. She winced when she saw the two needles that were sticking into both of her arms. What was she doing back here? Was she dreaming? She had to be; she had done nothing that would land her back in the hospital. Or if she had, she certainly didn't remember what it was…

Looking around, she quickly noticed that she didn't see her sisters or the Professor anywhere in the small room that she was in, and she let out a small grumble of frustration. She was in the hospital room, completely alone, and she wanted answers…

Suddenly, the black-haired child felt an extremely painful muscle spasm wrack her arms, and she clenched her fists tightly. Her heart monitor's beeping quickened, and this triggered the machine to start sounding an alarm, presumably to alert a nurse that Buttercup needed attention.

Help for her would come very soon, sooner than she expected. A nurse walked into her hospital room and, checking her EKG, noticed that her heart levels were elevated. Before she could even ask Buttercup how she was feeling, the nurse looked over to see the small child trembling greatly, the muscle spasms having traveled over her whole body.

"Ahg!" She yelped out, clutching at her own sides. Her trembling grew even worse, and the nurse could have sworn the child bore a faint, green aura…

Buttercup barely had time to think before she felt her consciousness waning. Looking over, she saw the nurse had administered a powerful sedative into one of her IV tubes. Her last thought before she went under was a small twinge of frustration at the fact that she still had no idea why she was there or what was happening to her…  
-

When Buttercup had woken back up, she noticed her sisters sitting on the bed with her, as if they knew that she would be waking soon. Bubbles smiled wide at seeing her sister finally awake. Both Blossom and Bubbles had been disconnected from their IVs, but Buttercup's remained. Her heart monitor was making a steady beeping noise. The black-haired child blinked.

"Blossom? Bubbles?" She murmured to them, sitting up from the bed slightly. Her head hurt, and she brought one of her hands to her scalp, rubbing it gently. "W-what are we doing here… what happened to you guys?"

Blossom crawled further onto the bed and towards Buttercup, only slightly. "We got in an accident in the Professor's lab, don't you remember?" The redhead blinked, looking at her sister intently in the eyes. That was when Buttercup noticed it…

"Blossom?" The black-haired child leaned toward her sister, looking into her eyes. She noticed they were… pink. Her eyes weren't playing tricks on her, were they? No, they really were pink! "Your _eyes_ …" she whispered.

"What?" Blossom asked, tilting her head to the side in confusion. "What's wrong with my eyes?"

At this, Bubbles looked over at her redheaded sister, and she gasped at the realization that Buttercup had made. "Blossom, your eyes are _pink!"_

"WHAT?" Blossom shouted out. "I have… p-pink eye?"

"No, no," Buttercup tried to calm down her frantic sister. "Like… how me and Bubbles have green and blue eyes? Your eyes are pink. They're not brown anymore." Bubbles nodded at Blossom, confirming what Buttercup was saying.

Blossom, still not quite convinced, jumped down from the bed and eagerly ran into the bathroom to check, herself. After a few moments, she walked out of the bathroom, the color nearly drained from her face in shock. "They…they really _are_ pink."

Buttercup bit her lip. "But…you feel fine, right? Like, there's nothing _wrong_ with you guys, right?" She hoped that her sisters hadn't suffered the same fate as her, like the intense pain and muscle spasms that she had dealt with in waves for the last couple days. The doctors weren't exactly sure of the best way to treat her, so they had to resign to simply sedating her until the spasms stopped.

Blossom hopped back on the hospital bed with her two sisters. "Bubbles and I don't remember much, but we know we weren't allowed to come see you until the doctors said that we could."

Bubbles spoke out next, "yeah, they said you were under q-…qua…" She wracked her brain for the right word that the doctors had used, finding it on the tip of her tongue but not quite remembering what it was.

"Quarantine," Blossom answered her, which elicited a small thanks from Bubbles. "They said you were under quarantine, but nobody really said why," the redhead continued.

Buttercup scoffed. "Figures," she crossed her arms, despite the two IVs she was hooked up to. "We're just dumb kids and we don't know nothing, so the doctors don't tell us anything."

Bubbles lied down on the bed, which was plenty big enough for the three of them, and faced her two sisters. "I want to go home already… I'm tired of being here and I wanna sleep in my own bed, not these dumb hospital beds."

"And this beeping is driving me crazy," Buttercup remarked as she gestured to the heart monitor next to her.

"I wanna go home, too," Blossom spoke with a frown, "but we can't leave until the doctors say we can. And I don't know when that will be… the Professor said we've already been here for 4 days."

4 days? Buttercup could hardly believe that. How long had she been asleep? It seemed like she had been there maybe a day at most. She couldn't remember much about being at the hospital. She might have vaguely remembered being surrounded by doctors that were shouting orders at each other, but she was either too tired or too sedated to hear what they were saying to each other.

"Where is the Professor, anyway?" Buttercup finally asked her two sisters.

"I think he left to get us some food," Bubbles answered, "hospital food is really yucky, me and Blossom had some this morning," her face contorted into a disgusted look as she spoke, but she quickly recovered. "So I think he left to get us some real food."

"I don't think I even remember what real food is like," Buttercup joked with a chuckle, which elicited a small giggle from both Blossom and Bubbles.

It wasn't long before the Professor came back with some food for the girls. He had known that Blossom and Bubbles would be in Buttercup's special intensive care room, so he entered the room to see his three girls on the hospital bed together. This was the first time he had seen Buttercup in about a day, and the last time he saw her she was conscious, but heavily sedated, so she barely noticed or even acknowledged that he was there with her.

"Buttercup, how are you feeling?" He asked his daughter as he set the bag of fast food on the bed for Bubbles to promptly dig into.

"Ok, I guess," Buttercup answered him as she watched Bubbles crunch down on some french fries that she had fished from the bag of food. "My head kinda hurts, but otherwise I guess I'm okay."

The Professor pulled up a chair next to Buttercup's bed and sat down in it. "Well, Buttercup, unfortunately the doctors won't let you eat since you're still hooked up to your IV, but I promise I'll get you something to eat for dinner tonight if they take you off of it."

Buttercup simply nodded at this. Her sisters continued to eat and, Buttercup was starting to get a little annoyed by the lack of answers that she was getting about what was wrong with them… sighing, she looked over at the Professor. "So why are we actually here? What is wrong with us? Are we going to be okay and can we leave soon?!"

The Professor frowned at her black-haired daughter, and he struggled to find a way to answer her many questions. This is why he had been avoiding trying to explain anything to the girls. After a moments pause, he decided to just say it.

"I don't actually know what happened with you girls. All I know is that you got doused with a certain chemical from my lab. I am unsure of all the properties of the chemical, so I simply called it "X"," he looked over at Blossom and Bubbles. "The doctors are stumped. They wanted to keep you here to be sure that none of you suffered any ill-effects of exposure to the chemical. But once Buttercup started having severe muscle spasms, the doctors decided to separate her from you two, just to make sure that, if there was something wrong with her, it wouldn't spread to you." At this, he shrugged. "Buttercup seemingly stopped having the spasms, which I'm assuming is why they've allowed you two to be here with her."

Buttercup was still not one-hundred-percent satisfied, but she figured she wouldn't get a much better answer out of the Professor. She nodded and murmured, "okay."

"And as for Blossom's pink irises, I have no explanation either. And the doctors are just as shocked as we all are. We're all assuming it's just a side effect of the chemical exposure."

Blossom looked meek at this. Her eyes hadn't hurt much, so she didn't really have a reason to worry, right? She hoped she wasn't mutating into some weird alien freak like she had seen on TV sometimes. In fact, this entire situation seemed like something out of a bad sci-fi film. She shuddered a little internally, trying to push the invasive thoughts from her mind.

"But the good news is, if the doctors are pleased with how you three are recovering, then you'll all be out of the hospital by tomorrow morning," he finished speaking as a small smile graced his lips.

What a relief, they were soon to be free from the hospital. Buttercup was so sick of hospitals. She had spent too much of her young life in hospitals already, and she didn't want to be a part of this sterile environment any longer. She was tired of the needles that poked into her arms, and the nurses that came in to check her machines and administer medicine to her. She hated when the nurses took off the sticky adhesive from her heart monitors. It always hurt so bad! And they would do it without warning, too!

Buttercup seemed the most excited to leave, even though she was sure that Blossom and Bubbles were ecstatic, too. "Thank goodness," she murmured, leaning back down on her pillow, her eyelids suddenly feeling very, very heavy.


End file.
